Quick intro if this is the first post you are seeing on this subject
I'm writing about my year before I turn 50, which happens in June, 2020. I was inspired to make my own “bucket list” which was more about personal development and decluttering than adventure and scary things. If you'd like to read other past posts, they are all on a list here: (just click the link and you'll be taken to the page) https://rebeccatervo.com/my-journey-to-turning-50/
This first month I've chosen to work on the following things off my list:
BOOK: “The Year of Less” by Cait Flanders
HABIT: Release Sugar from my regular diet
DECLUTTER: Clothing and Office
This week I knocked a few things off my list:
- Had my first planned exception day on the 4th of July
- Mad my office functional and mostly moved in
- Visited a new place on my list
HABIT UPDATE:
Today is day 21 (almost without) sugar and day 50 (almost without) flour (except for planned exceptions).
One tool I wanted to practice with my decision to live flour and sugar free…was “Decisions ahead of time”.
This means that on the days I’ve decided I’ll have an exception (which would be that I would allow flour and sugar foods into my diet), I must decide ahead of time exactly what those exceptions are going to be, and how much of them I’ll eat.
4th of July was one of the days I decided to have an exception day. On July 3rd, I sat down with my journal and wrote down the exception foods I wanted to eat sometime during the day.
At this point, it’s not as important to me HOW MUCH I eat of them. What’s more important is sticking to what I planned to eat.
Here was what I wrote in my journal as my “deciding ahead of time plan”:
- Up to 10 pieces of candy at the parade(s)
- A small sliver of my Mom’s homemade blueberry pie with a partial scoop of vanilla ice cream
- A hamburger with a bun for dinner (the bun was the exception) OR a few mini pasties at the food fest
- A one scoop waffle cone at the food fest
Here’s what actually happened:
- I ate 10 Tootsie Rolls at the 1st parade of the day, and opted not to attend the second parade.
- I ate my Mom’s blueberry pie and some vanilla ice cream. A third of the amount I’d normally eat.
- We didn’t eat supper at the Food Fest….so I made my normal “on track” food for dinner instead….skipped that exception.
- BUT, did make it to the food fest for the fireworks (which were rained out)….but got to get my one scoop Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream in a waffle cone.
I was super curious what I would feel like after allowing this sugar (and some flour) back into my day. I did have a headache that came on around lunch time and lasted all afternoon (which is why I skipped the 2nd parade). I was unsure if the headache was because of too little sleep the night before, or because of the candy I ate at the parade. I rested, took migraine headache medicine, and joined my family at the fireworks.
What DIDN’T work about my goal for my habit this week:
I allowed an old thought to creep in on the evening of July 3. Something like “Well, it’s almost my exception day anyway, and I’ve been SO good and I’m SO proud of myself!” (and I was feeling disappointed that I wouldn't be having dinner with my friend Rebecca that evening at the most yummy Mexican Restaurant in town like we had originally planned).
I thought about getting a mini-mixer at Culver’s when I picked up dinner for my daughter. I actually put real thought into the decision.
I thought about what it would feel like to NOT order it when driving through the drive-through. Then I thought about how yummy it was and what I would tell myself after I ordered it and ate it. And, I still decided to order it. It was intentional. And it was against my plan.
Afterwards, I decided not to let that one decision derail my whole new habit for the year. And, it didn’t. I still ate my planned exceptions the next day….and haven’t felt the need for anymore unplanned sugar/flour treats.
Next weekend will be another day with a planned exception, so I’m looking forward to experimenting again with the “deciding ahead of time” tool for those exceptions.
One thing I'm really working on is not beating myself up for getting off track on anything. I did that for over 40 years, and it always led to the same results….not long term health changes. I'm determined this time will be different.
DECLUTTERING
We are having friends over this weekend, so it was my goal to get the temporary office desk (which is the patio table) cleared off so we can use the table on the deck for dinners. My new electric standing desk came in for my office, and I put that together and moved most of my stuff back in.
My office is now functioning, although not totally decorated yet. I’d love to get some wall art for the wall behind my desk as well as for the wall on the side.
Visiting new places:
This week I finally got the chance to visit one of the 12 places that are on my list to visit within the next year! This was a great time to go to The Marquette Regional History Museum with my family.
This is the funny selfie we took this morning:
We had a couple hours to kill before we had to take Kendra (my 20 year old daughter) back to the airport so she could go back to South Carolina. So even when the rest of the “Fam” wasn’t super excited, I talked them into participating with me.
I have learned to LOVE history, so I found it really fun to take an hour stroll through the history of the Upper Peninsula…something fun I learned was was there were actually more women hockey teams in our area back then (playing in their long wool skirts) than there are today! I thought women’s hockey was a new sport….
By the way, my hubby thought there were sooo many interesting things, that he wants to go back again when we have more time!
